Posted
by
timothy
on Wednesday April 29, 2009 @01:08PM
from the get-the-new-bill-calculator-app dept.

Robbie B writes "Nokia mobile users will be able to pay for apps from the Ovi App Store on their mobile phone bill. Nokia is working on billing relationships with mobile operators around the globe, according to the story. Nokia developers will subsequently have to share their spoils with mobile operators should consumers choose mobile phone billing over the credit card option. That aside, the terms and conditions of the app store look to be quite fair — more in the style of Apple and Android (no fees for each app or update uploaded) than the terms of Windows Mobile Marketplace or Blackberry App World."

I think I'll stick to using my repositories for my OpenMoko [opkg.org] and
opkg.org [opkg.org]. The software for the Freerunner
has improved a lot recently (admittedly from a very low base).

When OM cancelled ("postponed") the GTA03 and laid off a number of
clever, hard-working hackers I figured that it was the end of the company
but despite my pessimism, the latest revision of the phone comes with the
hardware fixes and the newest release of the operating system (OM2009)
is shaping up to be pretty good.

My, how mobile manufacturers and service providers tend to adopt the behavior of TV gangsters!

Isn't that cute? I personally don't like to idea of hardware manufacturers and service providers getting too cosy with each other. It's too much of an opportunity for them to take the subscribers "for a ride."

Want to marry a cool Apple iPhone? Meet the ugly cousin, that comes along with the pre-nuptials deal, AT&T.

How the mighty has fallen. Nokia, I have news for you. It is the software. Yours stink. Your OS is very difficult to develop for. You have many hardware models that developers will have to contend with. Keep on making great phones for the lower end. Most of your smart phones will fail to attract a serious number of developers.

I bought a Nokia N96 from China, because I was there at that the time. It turned out to be a waste of money. I'm quite certain that I got the real deal, too. I've read about the fakes, and even asked an official Nokia store, in another city. They said that the N-series phones don't have wifi.

Also, I'm pretty disappointed in the UI.

As if that isn't enough, the phone doesn't connect well with my Vista laptop anymore. It's silly. I think that it got it's problems when I upgraded the firmware, which really bugs

"(no fees for each app or update uploaded)" - not so as far as I know.

Ovi is requiring each app be "Java Verified" ( http://www.javaverified.com/ [javaverified.com] ), which requires third party testing on each 'class' of phone at a cost to the developer of around $150. So if you wanted to cover all Nokia's models it will cost you more than $1000 per app to get it certified as 'uploadable' (I cannot figure out exactly how many 'classes' / 'lead devices' there are). Any change or update to the app requires re certification.